The Enlightenment
by Daniel Nelson
1. Poetry - John Milton. Wrote paradise lost (greatest modern epic), paradise regained where Satan fails to corrupt Jesus.
2. In a time when faith and hard labor kept the majority of society alive, the introduction of reason by the Enlightenment was initially perceived as a threat. People had focused on their faiths and grasped the traditions and rituals of their dogmas.
2.1. https://www.bartleby.com/essay/Faith-and-Reason-in-the-Enlightenment-F3TEVEZTC
3. Philosophers assumed that there was a rational order of eternal truths and philosophy in the Age of Reason and would seek to ground their deductions in universality and transcendence.
3.1. The idea that people might act irrationally or counter to their best interests or that they might oppose “self-evident” truths was not an option.
4. The enlightenment thinkers moved away from religious views and focused more on how man related to the world around him. And recognizing the scientific explanations for man's world. And then reflecting on these discoveries in their art and literature.
5. Satire - many enlightenment thinkers campaigned against oppressive government and religious authorities. Voltaire was the most French famous French satirist and Jonathon Swift was the most famous English satirist, notable for Gulliver's Travels.
6. https://www.thoughtco.com/18th-century-timeline-1992474
7. Music consisted of large groups of instruments therefore the opera genre was created.
8. 1701 : Jethro Tull invents the seed drill. 1709 : Bartolomeo Cristofori invents the piano. 1711 : Englishmen John Shore invents the tuning fork. 1712 : Thomas Newcomen patents the atmospheric steam engine. 1717 : Edmond Halley invents the diving bell. 1722 : French C. Hopffer patents the fire extinguisher. 1724 : Gabriel Fahrenheit invents the first mercury thermometer. 1733 : John Kay invents the flying shuttle. 1745 : E.G. von Kleist invents the Leyden jar, the first electrical capacitor. 1752 : Benjamin Franklin invents the lightning rod. 1755 : Samuel Johnson publishes the first English language dictionary on April 15th after nine years of writing. 1757 : John Campbell invents the sextant. 1758 : Dolland invents a chromatic lens. 1761 : Englishmen John Harrison invents the navigational clock or marine chronometer for measuring longitude. 1764 : James Hargreaves invents the spinning jenny. 1767 : Joseph Priestley invents carbonated water or soda water. 1768 : Richard Arkwright patents the spinning frame. 1769 : James Watt invents an improved steam engine. 1774 : Georges Louis Lesage patents the electric telegraph. 1775 : Alexander Cummings invents the flush toilet. Jacques Perrier invents a steamship. 1776 : David Bushnell invents a submarine. 1779 : Samuel Crompton invents the spinning mule. 1780 : Benjamin Franklin invents bi-focal eyeglasses. Gervinus of Germany invents the circular saw. 1783 : Louis Sebastien demonstrates the first parachute. Benjamin Hanks patents the self-winding clock. The Montgolfier brothers invent the hot-air balloon. Englishmen Henry Cort invents the steel roller for steel production. 1784 : Andrew Meikle invents the threshing machine. Joseph Bramah invents the safety lock. 1785 : Edmund Cartwright invents the power loom. Claude Berthollet invents chemical bleaching. Charles Augustus Coulomb invents the torsion balance. Jean Pierre Blanchard invents a working parachute. 1786 : John Fitch invents the steamboat. 1789 : The guillotine is invented. 1790 : The United States issued its first patent to William Pollard of Philadelphia for a machine that roves and spins cotton. 1791 : John Barber invents the gas turbine. Early bicycles are invented in Scotland. 1792 : William Murdoch invents gas lighting. The first ambulance arrives. 1794 : Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin. Welshmen Philip Vaughan invents ball bearings. 1795 : Francois Appert invents the preserving jar of food. 1796 : Edward Jenner develops a vaccination for smallpox. 1797 : Amos Whittemore patents a carding machine. A British inventor named Henry Maudslay invents the first metal or precision lathe. 1798 : The first soft drink is invented. Aloys Senefelder invents lithography. 1799 : Alessandro Volta invents the battery. Louis Robert invents the Fourdrinier Machine for sheet papermaking.
8.1. All aspects of life, even religion, were affected by the Enlightenment and many key figures from American history such as Thomas Jefferson were greatly influenced by the movement. Thomas Jefferson took from Lockes idea of natural rights and put Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the United States Declaration of Independence.
9. Drama - focused on French classicalism. Moliere was the most famous playwright, focused on pettiness of the upper class.
10. Major technological advancements
11. Origins and legacy of the enlightenment .
11.1. the beginning of the enlightenment was not considered to be traditional thinking
11.1.1. Enlightenment thinkers no longer wanted to learn things through blind faith, explored methods of learning and knowing by evidence and proof.
11.2. there were many different branches of the enlightenment; French, Scottish, English, German, Swiss, and American
11.2.1. Religion was a big part in building up the enlightenment period. Catholic was a vast majority of the enlightenment thinkers during this time.
11.3. http://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/philosophy/philosophy-terms-and-concepts/enlightenment
12. The relationship between religion and reason
12.1. Starting with the enlightenment many people started to really question religion and think about it for themselves not just accept stereotypes or normalities, they thought deeply about how they felt and struggled with it.
12.1.1. People had been so focused and intent on keeping traditions that they hadn't had time to stop and realize there was so much more that they could discover.
13. Scientific advancements
14. Politics: Uprising and revolutions
14.1. major revolutions during the Enlightenment: Glorious Revolution, American Revolution, French Revolution, 1825 Revolution.
14.2. Both American and French Revolution were inspired by the Enlightenment thinker's idea- Locke, Montesquieu and Rousseau.
14.3. The Glorious Revolution in England was an effort in 1688 to overthrown the monarchy. With the declaration of rights and the bill of rights, the crown lost its executive power. The Parliament became the ruling authority in Great Britain.
14.4. By the influence of the French Revolution, the Haitian revolution began at 22 august 1791. The first uprising of the slaveries that against French colonial rule.
14.5. The Russian 1825 December Revolution was greatly effected by the enlightenment, as well as the first revolution in attempt to overthrow the Tsar. Although it ended in failure, it was the first time enlightenment ideologies effect Russian Empire. The "Decembrists" were either executed or sent to Siberia.
15. Politics: Governments founded on Enlightenment principles
15.1. The Magna Carta created in 1215, established that monarchy is not absolute
15.1.1. Led to the establishment of parliament and later replaced the king with a Prime Minister
15.2. Thomas Hobbes created the idea of social contract. The idea that citizens would give up rights to be governed.
15.2.1. John Locke disagreed with Hobbes on the idea that natural rights could not be stripped away from human beings. John Locke believed that a ruler can not have absolute power. Locke believed in the Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Property.